Pages - Menu

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Burmese man not entitled to subsidiary protection

The Irish Times on Monday, 20th
August 2012, reported a decision made by the High Court regarding the
application for subsidiary protection by a Burmese national. The court refused
to review a decision refusing subsidiary protection to the Burmese man. The
decision was reached because Mr Justice Cooke determined that his story lacked
credibility, and the Court did not believe that he would suffer serious harm if
returned to Burma.

The man had initially applied for asylum in
Ireland after leaving Burma in 2008 due to religious clashes. He is a member of
the Rohingyen ethnic minority, and claimed to have lived in a refugee camp with
his uncle in Bangladesh. At the camp, he was offered a job in a religious group
whose practices were banned in Bangladesh, and after overhearing a conversation
regarding his forced removal to Afghanistan, he fled to Ireland, where he
immediately claimed asylum. His claim was unsuccessful, and he proceeded to
apply for subsidiary protection. The article reports that his council cited
that “this was based on the fact that members of the Rohingyen minority
suffered mistreatment, discrimination and hardship, and the danger of his being
sold to Afghanistan constituted a threat of ‘serious harm’.” However, his
application for subsidiary protection was refused, and he brought the matter
before the High Court for a review, stating that “the Minister had not made a
finding that the applicant was not a member of the Rohingyen minority. He
argued he was therefore obliged to consider the treatment he might receive as a
Rohingya if returned to Bangladesh. He said the Minister did not consider this
in his refusal to grant subsidiary protection.”

However, Mr Justice Cooke ultimately refused
the review, letting the decision rest as is. He ruled that while a member of
the Rohingyen minority may face “economic and social difficulties” in
Bangladesh, this did not constitute “serious harm” as is necessary to obtain
subsidiary protection.